One in three drivers in the United States will likely be involved in an alcohol related vehicle accident. Although the penalty for driving under the influence may include the loss of driving privileges and/or jail time, about 65% of those convicted from driving while intoxicated (DWI) continue to drive vehicles while intoxicated and become habitual offenders. Current penalties for DWI do little to deter such habitual offenders.
The use of both legal and illegal drugs has also been linked to numerous vehicle accidents. Most recently pharmaceutical sleep aids (e.g., Ambien®) has been linked to several high profile driving accidents. However, many of these incidents go undetected due to a lack of in-field testing systems. It has been estimated that about 329,000 incidents occur each year in the United States where the operator of the vehicle has been arrested for drug possession.
Millions of vehicle operators suffer from health related conditions that may prevent their ability to safely operate a vehicle, e.g., epilepsy, heart disease, diabetes, and the like. Similar to drug related incidents, there are currently no in-field testing systems to determine if a vehicle accident has been caused due to a health related condition of the operator.
Many conventional systems and methods for testing blood alcohol level of a driver of a vehicle are obtrusive to the user, require cooperation from the user, are easily subverted, often produce false positive tests, must be installed in the vehicle of the DWI offender, do not target the DWI offenders, are expensive, and typically ineffective at preventing habitual offenses.
For example, a conventional breathalyzer based system requires the DWI offender to first blow into the breathalyzer to start the vehicle. Then, at random time intervals, the system emits a signal which requires the offender to perform another test. This process requires the user, while driving the vehicle, to reach over and grab the breathalyzer to perform the test. As can be seen, such a process is obtrusive, requires cooperation of the user, and is possibly dangerous to the DWI offender driving the vehicle, much the same way that cell phone use is a distraction to drivers. The system can also be easily subverted by allowing a sober passenger in the vehicle to take the test. Such systems and methods are also prone to false positive tests, e.g., when the offender has used an alcohol based mouthwash, cough syrup, or prescription sprays. Additionally, the breathalyzer must be installed in the vehicle of the DWI offender. Thus, such a design does not target the DWI offender and is offensive and obtrusive to other users of the vehicle who must utilize the breathalyzer to drive the vehicle. Conventional breathalyzer-based systems also provide no means to test whether the driver of a vehicle is under the influence of illegal or abused prescription drugs or has a health related condition that prevents the driver from safely operating the vehicle.